The Craftys Included a Piece on How Crochet Saves Lives

I was honored to have my blog recognized as a finalist for the 2017 Craftys in the category of best craft blog. Although I didn’t win (it went to Creative Green Living – congrats!) I was happy to be in such good company. I watched the whole set of awards (below) and was particularly thrilled to see the interview with Nadia Fuad of YARNutopia who shared how crochet helped her cope with illness.

Mark Montano introduces her saying that crochet is one of the most popular categories in the Craftys, that “many of the nominees have amazing stories” and crochet can even save your life. Nadia shares,

“Several years ago I was diagnosed with severe Crohn’s disease and because of it I’ve had to have numerous hospitalizations and many surgeries to try to get it under control. And my hospital stays weren’t just an overnight kind of thing; they were two or three weeks at a time. One day my mom ended up coming in my hospital room with a ball of yarn and a crochet hook, and she said “you’re not going to let this illness take over your life”. She told me to “teach yourself how to crochet”. So I looked online at how to do basic stitches and I learned how to crochet, and I ended up making a project, and I ended up feeling really accomplished.”

She goes on to share how she got inspired by the Gigi Hadid granny square crochet cardigan and figured out how to make her own version of it. She wraps up by saying,

“Crochet has helped me in such a horrible situation, and I was able to turn something so negative into something positive.”

Nadia shares more about her experience on her blog where she also elaborates:

“I really wish I could do more in my life, but hospital stays and surgeries have stalled some of the progress that I would see my life taking. Being able to crochet and build awareness through my craft is the detour my life took when this disease tried to put some roadblocks in my way. I am extremely thankful that I found this outlet, and I feel better that I am able to give back in this way.“

Nadia donates a portion of sales from her crochet work to research to find a cure for inflammatory bowel diseases.

Kathryn

San Francisco based and crochet-obsessed writer, dreamer and creative spirit!